Fed-OSHA says street should have been closed before Miami bridge collapse

Fed-OSHA concluded in a report released Tuesday that engineers had knowledge of extensive cracking and failed to order a street closed and shore up a pedestrian bridge before it collapsed and killed six people at Florida International University in Miami university last year. The agency fined contractors more than $86,000 for violations related to the collapse. The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating and is expected to publish its report later this year. WTOP (Washington, D.C.)

Fed-OSHA fines U.K. company following toxic gas leak at Delaware site

Fed-OSHA has fined a British speciality chemicals company another $260,000 for 25 cited violations after investigators determined that a leak of flammable and carcinogenic ethylene oxide, which stopped traffic for hours on the Delaware Memorial Bridge last November, could have been prevented. Several workers reportedly sought medical attention after the failure of an incorrect gasket, which was installed at a new processing facility that makes the chemical from a bioethanol base. Delaware News Journal

Contractor fined $84K for hazards at New Jersey site

Fed-OSHA has fined a contractor more than $84,000 for cited violations including workers using shoddy ladders and not wearing hardhats at a Lakewood, New Jersey worksite. The company reportedly was fined nearly $604,000 for similar violations at three Pennsylvania worksites. Asbury Park Press

Five injured in Texas crane collapse expected to recover

Authorities say the five people injured in the collapse of a crane that struck a Dallas apartment building Sunday are expected to recover. A 29-year-old woman, who was a resident of the building, was killed in the incident. Washington Post

Eyewitness video of Dallas crane collapse

There is eyewitness video of Sunday’s deadly tower crane collapse near downtown Dallas that could help Fed-OSHA investigators assess whether the crane was moving in the wind, like it was designed. After an earlier spate of fatal accidents, the agency already was paying closer attention to construction crane operators in Texas and surrounding states as part of its Regional Emphasis Program for Cranes used in Construction. WFAA (Dallas) [with video]

Michigan worker rescued after trench collapse

A construction worker was rescued from a 20-foot trench that collapsed Tuesday morning at a Wyoming, Michigan construction site. A coworker was able to mostly free the man by digging around him. Michigan OSHA is investigating. WZZM (Grand Rapids, Mich.)

North Carolina companies honored by state agency for safety records

The N.C. Department of Labor honored local employers and employees at the agency’s annual safety awards banquet featuring Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry in Lexington on June 7. Under program rules, companies must have been free of fatal accidents at the site to be eligible. The Dispatch (Lexington, N.C.)

Companies cited for deadly fire at Pittsburgh plant

Fed-OSHA has fined two employers more than $98,000 in combined penalties following a fire at a natural gas processing plant in Houston, Pennsylvania that killed a 61-year-old employee and resulted in the hospitalization of four others in December. The citations allege violations of the process safety management standard and exposing employees to flammable vapor and liquid while they offloaded waste material into a mobile tank. WPXI (Pittsburgh, Pa.) [with video]